Party! There's probably a good reason this party scene from Sunday River is a little fuzzy. At least with slopeside lodging, no one needs to drive. (Sunday River photo)

A week of partying, skiing, riding, and partying some more. Sounds like an awesome Spring Break, but who can wait for that? Good thing College Week is coming up for many east coast mountains. The ski bum lifestyle is one of the perks of going to college in the northeast, and it only comes this cheap once a year.

Check with this list to see which of your favorite mountains are offering cheap getaways. Just as with the college season passes, you must present a valid student ID with a picture to take advantage of the prices.

PS. I’ll be at the Killington collegiate extravaganza and would be happy to meet up with anybody who needs a ski buddy.

Hunter Mountain (Hunter, NY)

Jack Frost Big Boulder College Week (Blakeslee, Pennsylvania)

Dates: January 2-6

Price: $15 “snow pass,” $10 rentals, and drink specials at local pubs to top it off.

Mount Snow College Week (West Dover, VT)

College Week means friends chillin at Mount Snow. (Mount Snow photo)

Dates: January 2-6 and again January 9-13

Price: $282 for five days of skiing or riding, lodging, parties, and more.

On Thursday, lift tickets are $29.

Learn to ski or ride for free at 9:30 and 11:30 all week long

Sugarloaf Mountain Snowfest Week (Carrabassett Valley, ME)

Dates: January 1-6, 2012

Price: $299 for a five nights of lodging, skiing, and events.

Glass Half Full--but that can be remedied quickly (Sunday River/McLain photo)

Sunday River College Week (Newry, ME)

Dates: January 1-6

Price: $309 for five days and nights of skiing or riding, lodging, parties, music, and more.

$89 for one day of skiing or riding and a one night stay

$39 lift tickets for a day of skiing or riding

*Sunday River’s College Week is sponsored by Red Bull, so it should be pretty awesome!

Killington Resort Collegiate Snowfest and Collegiate Winter Games (Killington, VT)

Snowfest dates: January 1-13

Winter Games dates: January 2-6

Price: Lift tickets are sold at a regular rate. However, the Collegiate Winter Games are free to participate in, restaurants along the Killington Access Road will be offering discounts, and bars will have free cover.

*Collegiate Winter Games is a part of the Collegiate Snowfest and is a chance for college students to go toe warmer to toe warmer in a series of competitions like Mountain Ops, King of the Mountain, and the Sledding Derby.

Smugglers’ Notch College Adventure Break (Smugglers’ Notch, VT)

Dates: January 1-6 and again January 8-13

Price: $69 for a day of skiing or riding, team challenges, races, entertainment, and more.

Tremblant CollegeXBreaks (Tremblant, Quebec, Canada and Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

*CollegeXBreaks sounds like a few of the wildest parties on the east coast. They have a few different options to check out.

Dates: January 1-5

Price: $484  for lift tickets, lodging, and party access.

Dates: January 5-8

Price: $414  for lift tickets, lodging, and party access.

Dates: January 8-12

Price: $484 for lift tickets and party access.

Where's Waldo? A sea of skiers in colorful parkas waits for the new Skyline lift to turn. When it did, the line cleared out--FAST. (David Shedd photo)

Mother Nature certainly hasn’t been kind to the ‘Loaf (or any other ski area in North America for that matter), in the early season this year. Between very little snow and warm temperatures to quickly melt any that did fall, natural white stuff has been hard to find. And, warm overnight temperatures have kept the snowmakers idle in their shacks, talking about the “good old days”. But, the recent run of cooler nights was enough to allow Sugarloaf to open some real terrain and give us top-to-bottom skiing.

Hopes of  warm sun softening the typical early-season boilerplate were dashed quickly, as a random cloud hung over the mountain and temperatures dropped during the day and the snow stayed “firm.” Oh, well…isn’t that what sharpened steel edges were designed for?  Actually, the snow conditions on Tote Road were relatively mellow, with enough soft stuff  on top to at least allow us to warm our legs up before moving over to steeper Kings Landing and Hayburner. A handful of runs on those reminded us that our early season legs weren’t what we’d hoped they’d be; Hayburner, in particular, became “Thighburner” about halfway down! Luckily, the noon opening of the new Skyline chair meant we’d need to shift over there and take some time off to watch the festivities. That kept us from having to admit that our legs were toast. Priceless!

The crowd resembled nothing more than an invading army ready to pillage the mountain (David Shedd photo)

Arriving at the base of the new lift, we were treated to the sight of hundreds of lunatics who had been waiting in line for hours in the cold to be first up the lift. In particular, the front 100 were a hardy bunch; some had spent 6 hours and more in order to get a free t-shirt. Nobody ever suggested that Sugarloafers were sane! In due time, the lift started, and up they went…FAST. Thanks to a conveyor system that has passengers partly up to speed before the chair hits the back of their knees, the Skyline is the fastest fixed-grip lift out there, clocking up to 500 feet/minute (bizarrely enough, that’s the same speed that the old Spillway double was rated for…uh huh, sure). Within 15 minutes, the entire waiting crowd was on the lift and headed for the top, and the line dropped to…well, nothing. At that point, we headed up, and for the rest of the day never waited in line, period. Sweet.

The view from the top of the new Skyline lift resembles...well, the view from the old Spillway lift. Hmm...might have something to do with them following exact same route! (David Shedd photo)

So, what’s the new lift like?  Well, first, it’s like riding in a sport luxury sedan (think BMW 5-series, only colder). With everything new, it’s a magic carpet ride; you glide up it, no rattling or clanking, just a low hum. Second, it’s noticeably lower than the old lift. On this moderately windy day, that was a welcome change. Third, you’re at the top…well, FAST. About the time we’d have been feeling the cold really hit on the old Spillway chair, we were unloading at the top of the Skyline. That’s a double-edged sword, particularly at this time of year. Less time on the lift means less time for tired, burning legs to recover…. On the positive side, more runs in less time created a great excuse for getting out of there a little early to take advantage of the last daylight and get partway home before sunset on one of the shortest days of the year.

Over the past handful of years, Sugarloaf has made a lot of improvements; among other things, their snowmaking has gone from “pretty flaky” to “lots of flakes!” This latest upgrade, which will give the expert crowd easier, faster access to their favorite pain runs (no, Virginia, Santa Claus didn’t design an easy way down from there), means the mountain now boasts lift capacity that puts them in the thick of the “best of the best”, allowing skiers more time on the slopes/less in lines or on the lifts. The new lift will also likely reduce pressure on some of the more moderate terrain which will allow intermediate skiers to enjoy their experience more. Overall, it’s clearly a significant improvement over the old lift, and we’re looking forward to enjoying it more as the winter progresses!

The first annual! Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo

Upon his death, long-time cyclist and fitness enthusiast Charlie Semprebon left a significant amount of money to the city of Barre, Vermont. His bequest was designated to sponsor events to promote healthy lifestyle and community awareness. The result was the first annual Barre Bike and Fitness Festival held in  late May. This new 3-day event  attracted fitness buffs and bike enthusiasts from far and wide and had outdoor activites for everyone!

For the very young there was a gala street parade with materials provided for decorating bicycles and tricycles.

Kids got to ride their decorated wheels in the Barre Bike Parade. ( Susan McDowell photo)

The Millstone Trails Association offered FREE guided mountain bike tours at its acclaimed trail network in Barre Town for beginning riders, families, and intermediate level riders.

For the non-bicycle-riders there were yoga and jazzercise classes. and a running race.

Though the focus of the festival was on getting people to move their bodies, the whole town seemed to come together to provide a fun week-end for everyone. Studio Place Arts Center worked with 11 to 17-year-olds to produce a mosaic sculpture made from an old bicycle. Magic Wheel  Community Bike Center, which recycles bikes from donations, held  a yard sale of bikes and used sports equipment; and the Vermont Transportation  Bicycle Pedestrian Program manager  showed a slide show about a team of United States transportation professionals who visited five countries in Europe to identify and assess effective approaches to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility.

Athletes of all abilities competed in various races at the Barre Bike and Fitness festival. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

The week-end culminated with the excitement of a USA Cycling sanctioned  criterium through the streets of Barre, deemed the Charlie Semprebon Memorial bike race. In fact there were 8 different races in this criterium open to citizen riders, as well as to elite amateur athletes and professional cyclists.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful every town in every state would sponsor a week-end to promote moving your body and keeping streets safe for pedestrians and cyclist?

If your community or state sponsors a similar event, support them with your time and donations. If it doesn’t, contact your local bike stores, fitness clubs, and  local chambers of commerce to get this idea floating around. It’s good for individuals and communities!

And, of course,  come on up to Barre, Vermont next year when they hold their second annual Barre Bike and Fitness event and Charlie Semprebon Memorial Bike Race!! If you want to visit this lovely region of Vermont, start with the Central Vermont section of VermontVacations.com,  or the Central VT Chamber of Commerce, and be prepared to find all sorts of wonderful outdoor (and other) adventures.

Future racers waiting for the peleton to go by. ( Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

The peleton! (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

Calypso-clad Buffet revelers gathered at Sunday River for Parrot Head weekend 2011 (Marti Mayne photo)

Often celebrated in spring temps with shorts and tank tops, the annual Jimmy Buffetfest 2011 at Sunday River was more reminiscent of a January than an April Day. Following the April 1st snowstorm, Sunday River’s Parrot Head Weekend opened with powder conditions and snowfall early in the morning. While many New Englanders cursed Mother Nature for her cruel joke, Parrot Heads and skiers offered high fives all around, knowing the storm extended the season a few more weeks.

Hosted by the Parrot Head Club of the Northern Tropics , Parrot Head Weekend at Sunday River is the biggest party of the year, and has been named by Skiing Magazine among the top 5 Mountain Fests in the country. Contests, bands, dancing, and of course Margaritas are always in store.  Yet there’s one serious note to the event – to raise money, and that they did.  Six thousand dollars was donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation from the 2011 Parrot Head Weekend.

The competition was stiff in the bumps during Bust 'n' Burn. (Marti Mayne photo)

Despite the wind and temps in the 30’s, skiers arrived to Sunday River adorned in costumes, parrot hats, plenty of Hawaiian gear and shorts. Wind meant that some of the upper lifts were closed Saturday morning, yet intrepid skiers still made their way through the woods or on foot as they walked up to the Bust ‘n’ Burn bumps course on White Heat. Billed as the largest mogul competition of the year, 142 competitors from throughout New England took to the bumps for Bust ‘n’ Burn. Saturday’s competition narrowed the field to 32 competitors who moved into the semi-finals and went head-to-head through the bumps on Sunday. Two-time winner and former Gould Academy student Troy Murphy clinched the winning spot for the third year in a row.

Lincoln Fuller decided to take his Parrot Head costume literally, wearing a parrot on his head! (Marti Mayne photo)

Snowy skies gave way to blue skies by Saturday afternoon, just about the time the music started. A Dress-Like-Your-Favorite- Jimmy Buffet-Song contest resulted in some great outfits.  As we watched tropically-clad skiers dance to the tunes of “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Son of a Son of a Sailor”, it occurred to me that one couldn’t help but be happy hearing Jimmy Buffet music on this bluebird sky day. Maybe it’s not that ironic that one would find their “happy place” here at Sunday River, given their tag line! As temps warmed, snow softened and we spent our afternoon was rotating between runs down Shock Wave and swinging to the rhythm of Buffet and other calypso tunes.

A grand view of Mount Washington from the top of Locke Mountain. (Marti Mayne photo)

Sunday dawned the most perfect bluebird day, with ideal temps in the high 30’s too. We realized our goal to make 10 by 10 (10 runs by 10am) by being first on the Barker Mountain Quad and getting plenty of great runs on T-2 to Monday Morning (a favorite of mine), Right Stuff and Sunday Punch. Next, we headed over to Obsession which was just about as perfect as it can get – groomed corduroy, fast runs, and no lift lines. We were able to catch 2 or 3 runs there before the snow softened and our daily coffee break came.

Not one but two people were engaged during the Pond Skimming Contest! (Marti Mayne photo)

We ended our day early to watch the Pond Skimming contest. Well over 100 competitors dressed in wild costumes like clowns, bananas, gorillas and Barbie dolls attempted to make it over the pond. Hundreds of people looked on as a wildly funny announcer named Jarod made sarcastic, witty comments on each competitor: Brokeback Mountain jokes about  the three self-proclaimed “gay cowboys” during in-between interviews with competitors. For the first time ever, not one but two engagements happened during the pond skimming, with one nervous beau losing the ring in the pond, and the other getting down on one knee and proposing to “Retro Barbie”. At one point early in the pond skimming competition, there were more successful engagements than attempts to cross the pond. That changed quickly, though, as more competitors dialed in their efforts. Still, there were plenty of pratfalls to amuse us–in particular, we watched as our friend, 6th grader David Steinharter from Yarmouth, ME, made his first attempt across the pond only to be tripped up by the water.  Try as I might, I couldn’t convince my two daughters to partake in the pond skimming (perhaps watching their friend’s watery faceplant was a factor?), although both vowed to try it next year. Stay tuned.

No hands allowed during the Key Lime Pie Eating Contest

The weekend ended with the annual Key Lime Pie eating contest, as ten competitors buried their faces in whipped cream-topped Key Lime Pie. No hands allowed meant whipped cream mug shots, and the winner was no exception!

Parrot Head weekend often marks the end of the ski season. Yet, Sunday River announced this weekend that closing date won’t come until April 24th. Next weekend they celebrate a new event – the Totally Tubular Hot Tub Party, complete with hot tubs at South Ridge, 80’s music, slopeside bars and BBQs and swimsuit competitions. There’s plenty of spring skiing and happy places left at Sunday River in the 2010-2011 season!

Don’t miss great images and video clips on the Parrot Head Weekend Video. Click here to watch!

Check out more great images from the weekend:

Scott, a loyal member of the Parrot Head of Northern Tropics Club, poses with his special skis. (Marti Mayne photo)

Ohhh! This water is cold! (Marti Mayne photo)

Hungry Horses. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

Multi-talented Patricia Lyon-Surrey, who regularly contributes stories and photos to EasternSlopes.com has a one-woman show of her photographic images running through April 14 at Green Goddess Cafe in the Lower Village in Stowe, Vermont. The show features 20 of Pat’s art-quality images from her travels in and beyond Vermont.

It doesn’t take all day to ski your thighs to quivering masses of lifeless jelly on the abundant Spring corn snow at Stowe Mountain Resort. This exhibition is a perfect way to wind down and recover after a beer in the sunshine on the deck and before your soak in the hot tub.

Insiders’ tip: if you are riding the early-opening Mansfield Quad, Lord often softens before other trails on that side of the hill. And, once the lifts start turning on Spruce Peak it’s corn-central–get there early before the strong sun on these south-facing slopes turns them to slush!

Camels Hump in cloud. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

I really love this job because I am rarely told “No.” Within a few days I was signed up for the race and had wrangled my good friend, Jim, into being my partner. (It didn’t take a lot of work. He can be as foolish and impulsive as me at times.) We were both excited. As outdoor enthusiasts and avid runner/hikers we felt we had the stamina to complete the race. The question was: Did we have the skills to actually compete against experienced adventure athletes?

Lack of skill has never stopped us from trying anything before. .  . .

Teams gather for pre-race information. (Brett Lund photo)

The Frigid Infliction is put on by the Green Mountain Adventure Racing Association (GMARA). We would compete in mutiple events, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, postholing (hiking through deep snow without snowshoes), and a Tyrolean traverse (pulling oneself across a suspended rope) all while navigating by map and compass. Teams of two or three individuals (coed or not) compete in divisions. The risk in having a two-person team is that if one of us could not continue, we’d be out of the race because at least two team members had to complete the course. Jim and I were already placing bets as to which one of us would drop out, but I was pleased to read on the GMARA website that the race was well suited to beginner adventure racers. I hoped I would not have to increase my life insurance policy.

The race registration was on Friday night at Bolton Valley Nordic Center, and we drove the two hours up I-89 through impressively deep snow; 14 inches was sticking to the trees as we navigated up the access road to Bolton.

Friday night’s registration included an equipment check, last-minute compass and navigation training, and some pre-race information. The race would start promptly at 5:00 Saturday morning and teams were instructed to arrive a half hour earlier to receive maps and more instructions. The mandatory gear list was laid out for us, and safety was obviously the order of the day. If you became lost or hurt, you needed to be prepared to be in the woods for a while until help arrived. And since all teams were required to carry the same safety items, no one team would have a weight advantage.

Jim near the first checkpoint. (Brett Lund photo)

We had a comfortable room at Bolton’s slopesside Hotel, but we hardly saw the room. So-called “morning” (3:45, yikes!) came much too early. But the competitive juices kicked in, and we were wide awake and ready to race by the time we arrived at the Nordic Center to receive pre-race instructions. Not having done an adventure race before, I had no idea that there would be so little time to review the map prior to starting. Topographical maps and Bolton Valley Nordic Center maps were handed out with race instructions. At this point competitors were given about 10 minutes to develop a plan.

For the first leg, we would compete on snowshoes to find three check points designated on our maps in any order. Jim and I quickly decided to climb to the highest checkpoint first, so that we could move quickly downhill to the next two after locating the first.

Running between checkpoints would be our main advantage. (Brett Lund photo)

After the mass start, the pack quickly broke into three groups. A third of our group had a similar game plan. While out of practice with compass navigation, I knew enough to get us into the right area, then compared the topos of the Nordic Center to help us generalize the location of the checkpoint. Teams with strong compass skills had a distinct advantage in the dark: using observable topography was challenging at best. But as long as you can get close, being observant can help you find the checkpoint.

Checkpoint marker with hole punch dangling. Brett Lund Photo

Much of the traveling took place on Nordic Center trails, though finding the checkpoints would require off-trail navigation. When we felt we were in the right general location, we dove into the woods, and up a hill to eventually locate the first checkpoint. At each of these checkpoints there is an orange “box” flag suspended from a tree. Each has a unique hole punch tool to mark check cards and these are examined by race officials at the finish to determine what checkpoints were found. After checkpoint one, we sped off to the second and third. Running with snowshoes is not too difficult if you are a runner to begin with, and this worked to our advantage. While the second point took time to find, the third was easy as it was in a creekbed. After the three, we high-tailed it back to the start and the first of five transitions.

Transition area 1. Snowshoe to cross- country skis. (Brett Lund photo)

After lashing our snowshoes to our backpacks, we set out on cross-country skis to find three more checkpoints. Two hours had passed, and we were doing surprisingly well.

The next three points had to be found in order, and they would be just off of the cross-country trail system. Comparing topo to trail map made compass work almost unnecessary for this leg. However, these points were a greater distance apart, and we would need to make good course decisions to speed our team along. Again we reached the first point quickly, then prepared to race downhill and across some challenging ski trails to the second point. Cross country skiing on steep and tight terrain can be tough, but add a 25-pound pack to the mix, and it can be VERY challenging. Jim had warned me before the race that skiing would be his Achilles heel. But he showed a lot of grit and determination by repeatedly getting up and dusting himself off after numerous face plants (thank goodness for the 14 inches of new powder!) Made for some great laughs, though.

A fellow competitor checks his map at a transition. (Brett Lund photo)

While we were able to find our three points, we had lost some ground to iced-up bindings and a decision to try an untracked “shortcut” to the third point. Breaking trail can be exhausting, even when you share the task with other teams; by ourselves, it really slowed us down.

During the ski leg we saw much of the Bolton Valley Nordic Center’s expansive and varied trail system. They offer groomed terrain for skate skiers and narrow winding trails for backcountry enthusiasts. I found myself wishing we had more time to just explore.

Jim tackes the Tyrolean traverse. Holy burning forearms! - Brett Lund photo

The next transition put us back on snowshoes for the route to  the Tyrolean traverse (a rope strung tightly across a gulley). Required equipment included a climbing harness and two carabiners for each racer. Using the harness and carabiners, you clip yourself onto the rope, and pull yourself across upside down, with your pack on. This is easy to start, but after you reach the lowest point, you begin pulling uphill, which is a workout. The distance was relatively short, and both Jim and I were across in no time.

The next portion of the race was “postholing.”  Try walking through deep snow with no snowshoes and you get the idea. At times you stay on top, and at times you “post hole” when you break through up to your knees or even thighs. This is where it helped to be back in the pack—we had plenty of teams in front of us to make the travel easier. However, this is also the point in the race where fatigue had begun to set in, and even a simple task can seem difficult.

Once we collected markers from the next three checkpoints, we again transitioned to snowshoes to find the final five checkpoints. Now, time was the issue; we had to finish by 3 p.m, and a costly navigation mistake forced us to miss the last two checkpoints and make a beeline to the last transition area.

Do I have enough energy to chew? Fueling up at the final checkpoint. - Brett Lund photo

When we encountered other teams it was obvious that everyone was fatigued. After nine hours of practically non-stop exercise, my legs were heavy. For the last, long, uphill slog to the finish, Jim opted for snowshoes , while I hopped on my skis. There was no real feeling of “racing” at this point, just a need to finish. A lot of teams were bunched together. We would have no idea how many checkpoints our competitors had found until after the race. We would just have to hope that our combination of checkpoints and time on the course would give us a respectable finish. But truthfully, just finishing would give us plenty of self respect!

We crossed the line at just over 10 hours, and quickly realized that even walking to the car would be a challenge. Thankfully, a hot shower, a hot tub and a small bar awaited in the Nordic Center.

Finished!!! Can someone carry us to the car? Please. (Courtesy photo)

It’s true, this race can be completed by beginners in generally good physical condition. But Jim half jokingly told me not to bother calling in the next six weeks about any adventure races or he’d hang up on me. I think it was the lactic acid talking. Personally I wasn’t sure I would be able to walk for the next six weeks!

Despite the good-natured grumbling though, we both know we’ll be back for next year’s challenge. We’d like to extend a big thanks to GMARA for an exceptional job putting this race together, and to Bolton Valley, whose wondeful terrain and trail system  made for a perfect location.

Editor’s Note: What Brett is too modest to tell you is that Team EasternSlopes.com finished fourth out of 10 teams in their division with an adjusted time of 10:10:18. Congratulations Brett and Jim! For complete results of this year’s race, go here

"The Babushka Girls" at the start of the 2011 Tubbs Romp To Stomp Out Breast Cancer. (Courtesy photo)

Our day started very early—up by 4am and on the road by 5  to make the 3-hour drive to the Vermont 2011 Tubb’s Romp to Stomp snowshoe series that benefits the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This year’s romp took place at the Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in southern Vermont and included a “Lil Romp,” a 3k snowshoe race, and two tours of 3k and 5k.

True outdoor enthusiasts who love to do anything in the snow, Roger and I were not fazed by the long drive, even with snow on the roads. Besides, our team, “The Babushka Sisters” would be counting on us to show up. Three members of the team are Slovak (Pat, Karen and Patty), thus the name. The other 2 (Paul and Roger) aren’t Slovak ( or girls) but, in the name of a good cause, we let them be honorary Babushkas for the day.

A member of the Pink Flamingo Team displays her finery. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

The car thermometer said 19 degrees when we arrived at the Sun Bowl base lodge at Stratton Mountain. Despite the name, the sun wasn’t shining. However, compared to the below-zero temps and high winds of last year’s event, it felt practically balmy. We had come prepared for any weather: wicking base layers; hats, gloves, and neck warmers; insulation layers and windproof outer shells and of course, our babushkas.

The place was hopping and the color pink was in full display. Dressing up or wearing pink are not requirements but let me tell you there was ample silliness on display in both color and costumes. We checked in, got our numbers in no time thanks to the organization of the Tubb’s Staff and the many cheerful volunteers.

Silliness for a serious cause! This team should have taken home a prize for the "raciest" costume!

The seriousness of the cause was also evident in the many breast cancer survivors who were romping today, and by the myriad of participants who were doing the event in memory of someone who had not survived this horrible disease. Our group alone wore 6 names in honor of women we knew.

With 879 of us at the start line (a 2% increase in participants over the 2010 event) the energy was palpable!

The 5k trail was along one of the more moderate ski trails. It had just enough hills to make a few people step to the side of the group to catch their breath.  Cheers, laughter, horn blowing and the stomp of 879 snowshoes meant this wasn’t a quiet walk in the woods.  Mothers carried children when they grew tired, people exchanged picture taking, and dogs on leashes behaved.

Most of the costumes stayed intact except for some pink “hair” that got caught in a tree branch and one pink bra that came undone along the way!  The group moved along as one, slow and steady—this was not a race.  Everyone finished in good time and good humor.

Her mother is getting the workout as the "lil romper" tires. (Karen Chickering photo)

Now the awards would begin and there were many: awards for participating, awards for racing, awards for fundraising….and the real award of having done something meaningful over a disease you can’t control.

If you want to contribute to the fight against breast cancer we’d be happy to see you in 2012 at the next Romp. If you can walk, you can do it!  And if you don’t have snowshoes no problem. Tubbs will be there lending out their latest models free of charge for the event.

If you choose not to actively participate, please donate to a friend who is Romping.

879 participants and counting. (Roger Lyon-Surrey photo)

Hooray to all of this year’s participants!:

The amount of money raised to date at this one event: $80,473.32 Final figures won’t be in until March.
The largest amount raised by an individual: $5930.
The largest amount raised by a team: $12,267.87.

Now The Relaxing . . .

The Babushka team broke up after the awards ceremony with Karen promising that she would sew five bright pink babushkas and matching pink aprons lined with lace for next year’s event. Patty, Paul and Karen headed to nearby Manchester, Vermont to have lunch and check out the upscale outlet Stores before heading home. There is a lot to do in this area besides Romp.  Manchester is known for its designer outlet stores, an unusual commodity in Vermont.  There are 4 downhill ski areas, a number of Nordic ski centers, galleries, great restaurants and the largest independent book store in Vermont—Northshire Bookstore all within a  30 minute drive.

Roger and I were staying at the Landgrove Inn for the night and decided to make a stop at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester to see their annual Winter Member’s Exhibition before checking in at the Inn. The long driveway to the Southern Vermont Art Center was an art exhibit of its own; the natural beauty of the birch trees lining the road and the various sculptures placed in the meadows of this former estate all caught my attention on either side.

The juried member’s exhibit turned out to be much larger than we expected filling ten galleries with paintings, photographs, sculpture and mixed media pieces.  We took our time looking through all the galleries and seeing if we were in agreement on our top 3 entries.

Twenty minutes after leaving the Art Center we arrived at the Landgrove Inn at and met co-owner Maureen Checchia. Landgrove Inn is an authentic 1810 farmhouse set in an unspoiled mountain valley outside a tiny Vermont village. I couldn’t help but contrast it with the busy-ness of Stratton Mountain Resort and the Manchester area. What a welcome change! There were no malls, no condos, just thirty-five acres of quiet to explore.

The Landgrove Inn. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

Maureen showed us around, told us some of the history of the inn and encouraged us to relax, eat from the pot of chili that was on in the den for guests or indulge ourselves with the chocolate chip cookies and tea that are always available.  Having been up before dawn, I was ready for a shower and a nap before dinner—of course, Rip Van Winkle Roger agreed.

At 5:00 we wandered back to the rustic bar and lounge area of the Inn where a buffet of wine and hors d’oeuvres were being set up for an après ski group.  Before I could even order a glass of wine at the bar one of the members of the group invited us to join them at the buffet. Sue, a long time member, was setting out 5 Italian cheeses for sampling that she promised I would enjoy. She told me that their group, the Valley Ski Club of Connecticut, had been coming to the inn each January for over 35 years. When they had first started coming here, the inn was only an après ski place where separate dorm rooms for “girls” and “boys” housed the group. In fact, at that time, they didn’t have to drive—there was a ski train that took them into Manchester from which they would be bussed up to the inn in two busses—one for them and one for their equipment.

Buffet set-up in the bar/lounge section of the Inn. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

Maureen had told me that 80% of their business was returning guests and this certainly fit for the club. They had reserved 13 of the 18 rooms at the inn for this week-end. Tom, the other half of the Landgrove Inn owner duo, was concerned we would find the presence of so many skiers in one place disquieting. I only found it fascinating. Many of these people had been skiing together for the life of the group. Ruth, an original member of the club, told me that some of the members no longer skied because of age or physical ability but had switched to hiking or snowshoeing as their bodies had changed. Talk about active seniors!

Toasting their long, active friendship. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

I continued to ask questions of the group while Roger simply sat in a rocking chair before the fire with a beer in hand. When I joined him I noticed that the wood ceiling above was carved with names and dates. Tom told me that in the days before Maureen and his time at the inn the ski guests took to carving their names in the wooden ceiling with a hot poker from the wood stove. He would like to insulate the ceiling and cover up the “graffiti” but most of his guests think it would take away from the charm of the room.

There was an intergenerational foosball game going on among the guests, a number of whom had just recently met. Truly this room offered a convivial and friendly atmosphere that encouraged mingling yet offered enough space to be on your own if desired. I had a hard time removing myself from the glow of the wood stove and the warmth of the company but our dinner reservation beckoned.

This Foosball game was a challenge of the ages. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

The dining room has cozy tables for two or four, and expandable seating for large parties. Their menu offers a variety of appetizers and entrees as well as homemade soups and daily specials. Roger and I both had salads with house dressings–his a balsamic vinegar, mine a garlic based dressing.  I chose the crispy duck in cherry sauce with sides of rice pilaf and fresh green beans done al dente for my entrée. Roger ordered one of the evening’s specials: Pork Mediterranean– medallions of pork in a tomato, capers, olive and artichoke mix. Unfortunately we didn’t have room for dessert although I would have loved to sample the apple crisp, the cranberry cheese tart AND the brownie sundae! We went to bed early with a vision of tomorrow’s ski on the Inn’s 10 k of trails beckoning.

After a full breakfast of French toast, poached eggs and sausage we changed into ski clothes and met Carl Eric–as he likes to be called–at the ski center which is attached to the inn. Carl Eric, 69, has been running his satellite ski business, housed at the inn, for 15 years. He rents skis and snowshoes if you don’t have your own, and grooms and tracks the inn’s 10k of trails. Skiing is by donation. He is also a registered ski instructor if you need a lesson. Curt lived in Sweden until age 7 when he and his family moved to the states. I think he must be responsible for the recipe for the “glog” that is available at the inn to warm you after a ski!

The trails are tracked for classic skiing and there are plenty of choices for the beginner to the advanced skier. The inn’s 10k of trails connect to the National Forest trails which are maintained by a local ski club. The Catamount Trail (a 300 mile backcountry trail that runs the length of Vermont) shares a part of these 10k, too. Since we had our 3 hour trip back to northern Vermont ahead of us, we decided to sample only the inn trails.

The flat to undulating trails have no big hills to climb or descend.  Most Nordic ski areas in Vermont are either all up or all down and this is a welcome change, a great place to enjoy an even tempo or practice technique. Open views of meadows, barns and the small town of Landgrove offer the quintessential beauty of Vermont as you ski. After about 1 1/2 hours of skiing, we reluctantly took off our boots and said our goodbyes.

A view of the Village of Landgrove from the ski trail. (Patricia Lyon-Surrey photo)

The week-end was perfect with two days of exercise, good food, good company and the pure joy of having participated in an activity to better the world. I would encourage anyone who wants a relaxing yet active Vermont experience to put a team together for the Romp to Stomp and then bring yourself over to the Landgrove  Inn for your own après snowshoe celebration. I wish I had brought the rest of the Babushksa Sisters along!

Pat and I traveled  early in the morning of January 8, 2011, to Fairlee, Vermont on snowy roads. We chatted in the warm car cocoon, primed with a good feeling about the weekend’s activities awaiting us. Turns out it was a wonderful weekend, as Pat tells you here.

The long blades with rounded fronts on Nordic Ice Skates make gliding over uneven ice easy and the simple binding system turns nordic boots into an ice blade. (Barbara Thomke photo)

First on the agenda was Nordic Skating.  Nordic what?  You heard it right – a kind of long distance skating on natural ice. This nifty sport started in Sweden in the old days and has found its advocates in Europe, Canada and now New England. Jamie Hess is the ringleader in Vermont and owns a shop in Norwich called, appropriately, Nordic Skater. We met him at the Lake Morey Resort that is beautifully situated on the water’s edge. He explained about the 17″ steel blades that give you stability on the ice, the widely curved tips that lift you up and over uneven ice surfaces (unlike conventional figure skates or hockey skates that grab in these conditions), and the warm, supportive cross-country ski boots. Nordic Skating, otherwise  known as “Wild Skating” or “Tour Skating” lets you explore places you normally see only by boat in the summer.

As Jamie talked, Pat and I sat lacing a pair of Nordic ski boots to our feet. Then we stepped outside to a bench on the lake and locked our boots into the bindings on the blades.  Soooo easy!

We stood up . . . shakily. . . and grinned at each other. We struggled to find our balance. It was too long since we had skated! With baby steps we reached the cleared track on the lake. Then bit by bit we developed a skating rhythm that is similar to cross-country skate-skiing. It felt soooo good!

The wind whipped sharply into our faces so we opted for the 2.5 mile trail rather than the 4.5 mile one that circles the entire lake. The Lake Morey Resort together with the Upper Valley Trails Alliance and the Hulbert Outdoor Center maintain the skating trail with various special equipment and the trail is the longest one in the United States! As it smoothed out we opened up our pace and glided along.

After 15 minutes of practice on Nordic Skates, you, too, could be swishing confidently around Lake Morey on the 4.5 mile trail. (Pat Lyon-Surrey photo).

Back on the bench in front of the Resort we clicked out of the blades and headed towards the Inn, passing a couple of smaller rinks where kids were playing ice hockey and a broom ball session was just forming. Guests staying overnight at the Inn receive complimentary use of skates for up to three hours daily. Anyone may stop by to rent nordic skates, hockey and figure skates at the Skate Shack. You can check ice conditions on the Lake Morey Resort website.

Room with a view! We could see people enjoying the ice from our comfy room at the Lake Morey Resort. (Barbara Thomke photo)

Although it was still forenoon we checked into our spacious and handsomely decorated room at the Inn overlooking the lake. Small figures dotted the nordic skating trail while the hills around the lake stood solidly, white. The scene reminded Pat and me of The Mountain Top Inn near Rutland, VT, another lovely inn with a similar view where we had enjoyed swimming, kayaking and horseback riding during the summer. You can read about our adventures here.

The Mountain Top Inn also offers cross-country skiing, though  the Lake Morey Inn is the place to go for Nordic Skating. Other locations for nordic skating could be the lake nearest you, a frozen river, in Quebec or on the canals in Ottawa, Canada. Many are the destination options, and I can see how easily you can become addicted to this fun new sport!

Nice looking mountain to ski down, but to run up? Crazy. (David Shedd photo)

What ARE facts are the following:  The “run” starts at the base lodge, is just over 2 miles long, ends at the summit, and climbs 1757 feet in that distance.  The route the race follows is an ATV road that heads up Gondola, turns right on Interstate, then continues on Work Road to the summit.  Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?  Well…consider this.  The race up Wildcat Mountain in the Wildman Biathlon climbed 2,112 feet in 3 miles, or 704 feet of climb/mile.  Stratton’s run, on the other hand, climbs 878 feet/mile.   That’s a LOT steeper, trust me.  Plus, Wildcat has several areas where the grade drops significantly closer to flat, allowing you to use different muscles; more hamstring, less quadricep.  At Stratton, the climb is relentless; while some areas are steeper than others, there’s none that are anything but steep.  Yes, Wildcat comes after having run or biked for a lot of people…but Stratton is, in its own way, as hard or harder.

Susan flying toward the finish...but was she fast enough? (David Shedd photo)

So, taking a step back. For those who haven’t been following this saga, here’s the background.  My fiancee Susan and I decided, in our endorphin-enhanced newly-engaged state, to do some ridiculous races together.  We found 4 within range of us, and within the late summer/early fall timeframe; the Wildman Biathlon, Sunday River’s Tough Mountain Challenge, Stratton’s North Face Run To The Summit, and the Shawnee Challenge.  Racing seemed like a good idea, particularly since the first and last races we could be a team at, and, well…the other two, we could compete against each other, with me giving Susan a 5 minute handicap.  Wildman, all was good…sore and tired, but fun.  Sunday River, all was almost all good…sore and tired, had fun, but I lost the bet, which means I have to buy the wedding rings.  With Stratton looming, I needed to redeem myself, particularly since the bet was to be who would choose the wedding caterer; that means a LOT of money on the line!

Now, this would normally mean training, but life sometimes doesn’t cooperate.  In my case, this meant that I managed to get an injury to my right calf a couple of weeks before the race.  Wouldn’t you know it…it didn’t hurt on the level, but would ache and cramp when I ran uphill.  Fabulous…it’s not like I would need to be able to do that at Stratton!  Things were looking bad for the bet, but Susan had just started a new job, which cut into her training time; there might be hope for me.  I focused on stretching, walking, stretching again, short slow runs, stretching some more; it all seemed to be helping some.  Time would tell.  Either way, things didn’t bode well for a great finish for us…ah, excuses!  Facing reality, we KNEW we wouldn’t be contenders, so the more excuses we had, the better.

There’s a real question that comes up as to why we’d drive for hours across New Hampshire and Vermont to do a race that lasts for less than an hour, then turn around and drive back.  Good question, but there’s a couple of good answers.  One is that the trip is, in itself, a shared experience for us, with lots of talk about what we’re going to do; obsessive strategizing, butterflies, all of that.  In other words, fun…and good for our relationship.  And on the way back, we got to talk about what did happen, how it felt, how we might train next year, what excuses we had this year, etc.  More good relationship fun.  The other reason is that the race is on Columbus Day weekend, in early October; could there be a better time to drive through the countryside of NH and VT?

If we hadn't gotten going early for the race, we'd have missed sipping coffee beside this view (David Shedd photo)

And, with that in mind, we spent the night near Concord, NH, so as to have a reasonable drive in the morning (2 hours instead of 4).  Got up, had breakfast, in the car by 6, a little before the sun rose.  Coffee in thermal cups in the car…check.  Now, there’s about 5 different ways to get to Stratton from Concord; they all take about the same time, none of them go anywhere near straight.  Since it was a lovely morning, no snow or ice, we elected to take Route 123 across to Bellows Falls, then jump onto Route 103 toward Chester.  Both of these are beautiful, windy roads with some spectacular views (123 goes over Pitcher Mountain, where Tim and I broke up our Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway trip).  Driving west, the morning sun behind us, it was just gorgeous; shifting from night to dawn to sun appearing on the hills ahead.  The coffee cups empty, we stopped once to refill and stretch our legs so they wouldn’t be TOO stiff when we arrived (I, at least, was wearing my “PREcovery” Skins; I needed every advantage over Susan that I could get!).  Some minor angst was caused when we got caught in a detour, lost, and added about 20 minutes to the ride, but we’d left ourselves time and it just meant more driving over fun roads with beautiful views through Southern Vermont.

One area of concern appeared as we drove along…the temperature kept DROPPING.  We started seeing frost on cars, then grass, then everywhere.   Plus, as we got closer to the ski area, the wind got stronger and stronger.   And, we didn’t have gloves, hats, or anything else.  Note to anyone doing fall races; assume it’s going to be cold, and bring appropriate clothing!  Luckily, the sun was on the slope (mostly) by the time the race started, and a pair of socks can do double duty as mittens, so we were fine.

Loose rocks made running up the steep trail that much more difficult (David Shedd photo)

The race is a free-for-all start; get in line, get ready, go!  And, for the first 50 yards or so, it WAS a run; which for most of us immediately turned into a slow, grueling slog.  The trail itself started off relatively smooth and stable underfoot, but that changed quickly; when it’s that steep, rocks tend to dislodge easily, and since we weren’t the first people up, things just kept getting looser under our shoes.  We were both using shoes from the “test bin”; I was testing some Karhu Stable Fulcrum Rides, which make the claim that they tend to move you forward…yes, I’ll take any help I can get!  They’re not a real trail shoe (more accurately, they’re a lightweight road trainer), but they’re comfortable, VERY stable, and have a fairly agressive sole that gripped well until things got really loose.  Susan, on the other hand, had some GoLites MicroLites, which not only were VERY light, but also have “Soft Against The Ground,” which translates to a sole that conforms well to uneven surfaces.  From comparing notes later,  it was obvious that she slipped a lot less than I did; clearly, the GoLites were a better choice for that kind of off-road use.  Great…just what I needed, an equipment advantage for her!  Halfway up, however, we ran into something NO shoe can help with; a Stratton employee was beside the trail telling us that from there on up, if it looks like water, it’s ice.  Wonderful.  Well, as with anything, there’s two ways to look at it; one is that it’ll slow me down, the other is that it gives me another excuse for being slow.  In reality, conditions were fairly dry, so the ice wasn’t a major factor, but it certainly kept us from getting complacent!  And, it helped balance out the equipment inequality; I’ve got longer legs than Susan, so it was easier for me to jump over and around the ice patches.

Back in 1998, I did the bicycle race up Mt. Washington for the first time, and found that it was as much a mind game as it was a physical challenge.  It was so painful, so unrelenting, that the challenge was to ignore my body’s “stop this silliness and get off the bike!” signals, and just keep going.  Stratton’s race, unlike the others in this group, is very similar to that.  Once you start, there’s no relief until you stop.  No flat spots, no downhills, just a grind that asks you how much you’re willing to suffer.  I relied on my heartrate monitor; I set myself on the edge of the red zone, and just tried to keep it there.  It was difficult; it’s so easy to ease off just a little, then suddenly look down and find that you aren’t even close to what you’d planned.  I found that I needed to look at it every 15 seconds or so; that way, even if I started to slack off, it wouldn’t cost me much time.  And, as in the Wildman Biathlon, when I downloaded the information from it later, I found that my rate of ascent was virtually constant; if it got steeper, I slowed down, and if it flattened (slightly), I sped up…but still lifted my body the same number of feet every minute.  Note to self for training in the future:  Pay attention to rate of ascent on shorter slopes in training, and see how much I can boost it!

About 3/4 of the way up, we came out into a more open area, and an astounding thing happened; the wind came up, and was BEHIND us!  I’m not sure I’ve ever had that happen; it always seems to be in my face.  I’m not sure how much it actually helped, but it was a relief to not have to fight every element out there.  And, it heralded the beginning of the end; shortly after, the slope started to flatten, and I actually began to run again for the first time since the start!

Almost too soon, it was over; after the long slog, it seemed almost cruel to only get that short run in.  But, I’d finished, and in 35:16; that means I crawled up that mountain at slightly less than 3 miles an hour.  So much for “running”!  And, so much for warmth; suddenly, I was freezing.  Off to find my bag of clothes that the Stratton people had brought up, and some relief, and then to see where Susan was.  I hadn’t gone far when I saw her coming off the steep section and starting to run…and she was flying.  This wasn’t good…the timing was too tight.  Following her to the finish, I asked her time; 41:04, or slightly more than 5 minutes behind me.  Potluck wedding reception, here we come!

How strange to look down on Stratton Village without snow! (David Shedd photo)

Race over, it was time to take the gondola down…or walk.  Walk, definitely; it was a beautiful day, and more time to enjoy the views as we came off the peak.  Racers were still struggling up toward the finish, and we cheered them on; the camaraderie was the same here as in the other “crazy-style” races we’ve done.  With a 4 hour ride home, we had plenty of time to discuss the race, how it had felt, what we’ll do differently next year…oh, yes, if we can, we’ll be back!

A spectator favorite was watching the mayhem at Barker Pond, where the net confounded racer after racer (Tim Jones photo)

The problem in this case stemmed from a bet made between me and my fianceé Susan regarding our results in the Sunday River Tough Mountain Challenge.  After our training session for the Wildman Biathlon, we’d found that we run/walk up  mountains at about the same pace.  Susan’s a better runner than I am; a lot more experienced, a lot more stamina.  I’m bigger and physically stronger, and faster in shorter runs.  She did gymnastics way back when; I tend to fall over and trip over things.  With the Tough Mountain Challenge being a mix of running, balancing, crawling, and just general self-abuse, it seemed like it played to our strengths, and took advantage of our weaknesses, in about equal parts.  Which, in theory, means that we should come out with about the same finishing time, making it a perfect race to make a bet on.

And, as a newly affianced couple, it seemed like a perfect bet that the loser would buy the wedding rings.  Since society unfairly assumes that the man will buy the woman an engagement ring (hey, I’m of Scottish descent; by custom, I’m supposed to try to find ways to cheap out!), I figured this was a good way to recover a small portion of my hard-earned money, as well as to justify a relatively expensive wedding ring if I found one that I really liked.  Susan, of course, had her own way of looking at it; she was still jobhunting after getting her MSW, so from her perspective it would help her retain her dwindling savings.  Clearly, we both had incentive beyond our normal native competitiveness to beat the other in this race!

Training for the event, however, was definitely a conundrum.  How do you train for an event where a snowgun is blasting water in your face at hurricane force as you try to run up a slope?  Or one where you have to run across a long, loose, bouncy net?  Nobody has that kind of stuff around their house (okay, nobody who doesn’t work at a ski area, anyway).  After long discussion, we decided that probably the best solution was simply to run in the woods, on and off trail, using the “obstacle course” nature of rocks, roots, slippery sidehills, and other natural disasters to hone our ability to adapt to whatever the psychos at Sunday River were going to throw at us on race day.

Now, here comes the “sucker” part.  There are plenty of old warnings about “sleeping with the enemy”; and where I should have been working at saving all of my best secrets for running in the woods, I was teaching them to Susan as we went along.  Because I’ve spent more of my life in the woods, I’ve had times I had to run with a pack on, without one on, you name it, and I’d developed some tricks; most particularly, a style for running downhill that may be the ugliest, most comical thing ever seen, but is pretty effective.  Imagine a chimpanzee running down a hill of ball bearings, and you have the basic picture.  Luckily, it’s never hit YouTube, yet.  Anyway, being a coordinated sort, she picked up on it quickly, and started sticking closer and closer to me.  Bad idea #1.

As I try to support Susan on her way to the finish line, she proves she's a stronger runner; I can't keep up! (Marilyn Donnelly photo)

Then came the “sandbag” part.  Susan, crafty soul that she is, enlisted some of my cycling friends to shame me into giving her a handicap.  They kept pushing me to give her 10 minutes;  I know she’s better than that, so finally agreed to 5 minutes.  I figured…3 miles, a little over a minute and a half a mile…I should be able to be that much faster in a course that’s largely in the woods, right?

Our sporadic training completed, race weekend arrived.  We got to Sunday River the afternoon before the race, and went out to pre-walk/run the course.  At the start, it didn’t look so bad…it wasn’t THAT steep, and they only had a few of the Boyne Low-E fan guns out on the course.  However, I’ve seen fan guns at work close up; even one produces a lot of water.  This was going to be VERY interesting.  As we wandered the rest of the course, it became clear that “not that steep” changed for the worse as we continued on.  The “Suicide Sprint” was a sprint only in name; it was way too steep and way too long to sprint, much less run; it was reminiscent of some of the climbs at Wildcat.  However, the next few sections looked like they might actually be fun…until the infamous Barker Pond net run.  A few attempts at that landed me with a number of bruises and some wicked rugburn; clearly, solving that problem was going to be key to finishing the race well!

As is our usual routine the night before a race, we didn’t get to bed at 8 after a light meal of pasta with veggies and salad like we’re supposed to; let’s face it, we aren’t professionals, and this is about having fun.  It happened that Sunday River was having a full-moon dinner up at the North Peak lodge with a full band, so we signed up.  These events are held sporadically in the summer, and every Saturday night during the winter season, and they’re definitely different.  A ride up the Chondola, a remarkably high quality dinner (ski areas aren’t always known for gourmet food, but one taste of the strawberry soup dispelled that notion immediately!), a wonderful blues band, and a good wine selection…yes, this is why we do these races.  The more we race, the more food and wine we can enjoy!

A beautiful day for a race & party outdoors at Sunday River's South Ridge Lodge (Tim Jones photo)

Back to the hotel by 10, we still had time for a good night’s sleep.  Because of Sunday River’s goal of allowing people to arrive comfortably in time for the race from a distance, and to include a barbecue/party at the South Ridge lodge as part of it, the race didn’t start until lunchtime.  So, we had plenty of time in the morning to eat, wander around, look at the racecourse some more, get the butterflies in our stomach REALLY going…wonderful (of course, we COULD have been off having a nice, easy kayak trip).  Oh, and Mother Nature had decided to bless us with a stunning, hot day; hmmm, maybe starting the race by getting a fan gun soaking wasn’t such a bad idea, after all!

We’d expected the start to be a free-for-all with everyone going out in a single group; this was the first year of this nutty event, so it wasn’t likely that there’d be that many participants.  Wrong.  With a limit of 200 participants, by the start of the race it was totally booked.  Now, the path through the snowguns was about 8 feet wide; imagine 200 people, pummeled by water and wind, trying to negotiate a narrow maze like that.  NOT a pretty sight.  Wisely, the organizers decided on three flights; young guys, old guys, and women.  That put me and Susan in different groups, but since they were timing each group separately, we’d be able to compare our actual times (unfortunately for me).

Total insanity defined: running through full-on snowguns. Note the guy in black who is off the course; he was totally disoriented by them! (Tim Jones photo)

Start time arrived, and off went the first group.  Watching them stumbling and sliding around in the first section didn’t do anything for my self-confidence; the butterflies in my stomach grew to the size of California condors.  5 minutes later, it was our turn; off we went.  Now, as I said, I know more about what fan guns do than most people…and I still was totally unprepared for what happened.  Literally, I was blind and disoriented.  The guy in front of me went right off the course, tripping over the fence; he couldn’t see that the course turned left at that spot.  Absolute mayhem; about half of us started laughing.  In a painful way, this was silly fun, like kids running through a sprinkler…a BIG sprinkler.

As we continued up the hill, the race settled into a series of groans and curses; while it had seemed hard the day before, at race pace it was brutal.  I’m sure the few really serious types at the front were flying, but for the rest of us it was an exercise in camaraderie; people were being polite, offering to let others by, commiserating about just how much the “Suicide Sprint” sucked; very much the same atmosphere that we’d found at the Wildman.  A sense of shared doing, rather than just being focused on winning, made it perversely enjoyable.

I've often been accused of doing things bassackwards; finally, photographic proof! (Marilyn Donnelly photo)

And, my hopes for my woods running skills overcoming my lack of running fitness proved to be true.  I actually had people laughing as I went by them in the downhill woods section; but hey, I was passing them!  And, since I knew Susan was already on the course behind me, any time I could make up would be important, since she’d be better than me on the smoother sections.  But, the net still awaited…

It’s hard to describe just how daunting that silly net really is.  It’s long, sure…but more important, it’s just plain weird.  If you’re on it by yourself, it’s loose, saggy, slack; sort of like trying to run through quicksand with big air bubbles coming up through it.  But, if you happen to be on it with other people, it tightens up, making it easier to run on, until someone jumps at the wrong point and catapults you off the blasted thing.  Based on my earlier attempts, I’d figured out that when it’s loose, my toes get caught, and I faceplant.  So, as I approached and saw only one person on it, I decided to run it backwards.  Yes, to treat it like a soggy ladder; it might be slow, but at least I wouldn’t end up sprawled on my face.  And, in fact, it worked; there was one person on it ahead of me, and I rapidly gained ground and caught him near the end.  I’d survived the worst!

Susan "on point" as she heads through the mud crawl toward the finish (Tim Jones photo)

Still, the mud crawl awaited.  It’s a nasty, slimy, disgusting thing, with barbed wire over your head.  And rocks.  Lots of rocks.  We pretty much all learned, as we started through it, to stay on our tiptoes and your fingertips; if you tried to crawl on your knees, it hurt.  A lot.  I’d prepared for it by wearing my goofy cycling time trial suit; I figured a one-piece would keep me from getting gobs of mud into places it wasn’t ever intended to be.  And, it worked.  However, what didn’t work was Sunday River’s method of securing the barbed wire; as someone ahead of me exited the pit, he stood up too early, hit the wire, and knocked it down onto the head of the guy in front of me.  Scary moment; if someone hit that wire and pulled it, the poor guy was going to have some serious damage.  But, the natural camaraderie I’d seen earlier in the race came through; another guy helped me get the wire off him, and other racers changed their lines through the mud to keep out of our way.  A few seconds lost, no damage done, and we were headed toward the finish.  One note:  the organizers are planning a number of changes for next year’s event, and one is a dramatically different mud crawl; that same problem won’t come into play again (rumor also has it that the Barker Net may go away; I’m fully in favor of that!).

So, one final set of obstacles, and the finish line blessedly crossed.  Time to head back up the hill and see how Susan was doing.  A quick check of my watch for time, and I headed up.  Slowly.  Very slowly.  It’s hard to imagine just how blasted tired a 20-odd minute race can make you…it seems like such a short time, but I was beat. Working my way back up, I got some interesting comments from spectators who had seen my backwards net run; clearly, I’d provided some amusement for them.  I considered asking the organizers to pay me as the official comedian for the event…nah, no chance.

And, all too soon, there was Susan!  I’d expected to find her coming into the net; instead, here she was, rising out of the mud crawl like…well, not quite like Venus rising from the waves.  More like…nah, I’d like to stay engaged to her.  Anyway, she was clearly WAY ahead of where I thought she’d be; she was flying!  Adrenaline kicked in; as a competitor, I should have tripped her or something to slow her down, but instead I started running alongside her, shouting at her to catch the woman in front of her.  I didn’t run beside her for long, though…I couldn’t keep up.  My legs were shot, and she was moving.  Moving so fast, in fact, that she caught the woman in front of her AND one more just at the finish line!

Relief at being done, and laughter at the sheer fun of doing such a ludicrous race! (Tim Jones photo)

The race over, we rinsed the worst of the mud off and started comparing stories.  Right across the board, they were almost identical.  The start was nuts, the uphill run brutal.  The “Trench of Terror” was a blast, as was running along the streambed and through the culvert.  The “Slip/Slide & Die” was anticlimactic; I’d tried to slide and found it slow, she’d been smart and just ran it since it wasn’t that slippery.  The Barker Net was horrible, the mud miserable, and seeing the finish line ahead was a blast of relief.  The course had clearly lived up to the advance billing; it was truly a “tough mountain challenge.”  Chalk one up for the PR people.  As for our own little internal race, knowing that we were competing against each other was fun, but largely because we wanted it to be fun.  If we’d taken it more seriously, cared more about winning, it wouldn’t have built on our relationship, it would have broken it down; instead, we’d just added to our shared experiences.  We were done, we’d had fun, we had stories to tell, and there was a barbecue lunch awaiting!  Life is good.  And, there’s more to come; in a few weeks, there’s Stratton Mountain’s North Face Run To The Summit, and then the Shawnee Peak Challenge…crazy races for crazy people!

Oh, wait…our competition?  Well, I’d finished in 25:34, 40th place overall…not bad!  Susan, though, was the star, finishing 10th among the women; that burst at the end to catch and pass two runners had really paid off.  And, along with that, was her time; 29:46.  Or, only 4:15 behind me.  So much for my platinum ring…but with two races to come, there are other bets to be won!  Or lost…there’s that “betting with women” thing working against me…